backpack

Handbags are a girl’s best friends! For me, they are a statement of personality and attitude, a declaration of mood, a weapon in a crowd and a home on the move.

Today I wanted to share with you the up and coming handbag and leather designers I had a pleasure to meet in the designer showrooms at London Fashion Week.

British brand Hemsley London, set up by Jayne Hemsley embodies quality craftsmanship, innovative and directional design tailored to the needs of the modern wearer. She created luxe fashion-led accessories where fashion meets tech for those busy go-getter socialites.

The designer tapped into this idea creating an Italian-leather bag collection with the working girl’s best interests at heart. With her unique designs the backpack is back on trend! From the Mayfair to the Derby, all designs are suede-lined and come with a convenient flap pocket that allow you to use your tablet or I-phone on the go.

And for the ultimate tote ladies, who carry just about everything around, the Hampshire bags are complete with a detachable coin purse (and mirror, and Oyster card holder) for the time when you can’t afford to scrabble through your bag like a lost traveler. How genius is that!

Williams Handmade was founded by award winning Sarah Williams in 2010 and the brand epitomises truly unique, sculptural and timeless leather pieces with each of them handmade in Hertfordshire.

This is an extremely labour intensive process where each piece of leather is being cut by hand and constructed individually using traditional techniques

For me, it is the colours and the unusual sculptural shapes and forms that differentiate Williams handmade from other designers, encouraging you to appreciate the true art of hand craftsmanship.

I loved this hexagonal sculptured clutch back oozing sophistication and wow factor.

The Mayra Fedane London brand remains very close to the concept of nonchalance, spontaneity and elegance.

I loved her structured yet whimsical handbags bursting with colour palettes and edginess where hand weaves and embroideries stand out loud in the high quality leather.

Fleet Ilya is a truly exciting leather label set up with the objective of bridging a high fashion aesthetics and subversive fantasy. I absolutely adored the lilac leather high waist belts and structured backpack that is making a comeback in so many forms and shapes!

Founded by Jasmine, the J D’Cruz brand is a new and exciting British brand, delivering bespoke handmade leather pieces using hand printing and vibrancy of colours as a main tool.